Page 47 of Too Broken to Love

Tessa dropped the stack of papers on the table and wrapped her arms around herself. “Tell me what’s in there.”

The General cradled both hands around his mug. “What I’m about to say stays between us until the official report comes out.”

Tessa locked up beside Hudson, tension vibrating around her like lightning before a storm. The charge snaked around him and pulled them closer until their shoulders brushed as they braced for the bomb the General was about to detonate.

The General’s gaze cut between them. “The DNA found in Sam’s car, including on the candy wrapper, is Frank’s. You’ll get the police report tomorrow.”

Tessa’s pained inhale rolled through Hudson like thunder.

She blinked. “But Frank can’t⁠—"

The General held up a hand. “Hudson briefed me on his surgery. I’ve reviewed Frank’s medical records and cross-checked the data. The findings are clear. Whoever’s in that video is not him.”

The knot in Hudson’s chest loosened. He caught Tessa’s gaze. Relief radiated from her face.

She looked up to the dark sky and whispered her gratitude. “Does the report give any indication about who impersonated Frank? Or who hacked in and erased the video feeds before and after the impersonator broke into the car and planted Frank’s DNA?”

“No, and no, but the report indicates definitive proof of sabotage.”

“I fucking knew it.” Hudson slammed his coffee mug on the table. Brown liquid sloshed onto the aged wood. “How?”

“Sensor spoofing device.” The General glanced at Tessa. “It’s a tiny transmitter that’s planted near a critical sensor. When triggered, in this case remotely, it feeds false data into the car’s system and causes loss of control.”

Tessa latched onto Hudson’s arm, her fingers trembling with the gravity of the news. Red-hot anger shot through his muscles and scorched his nerves.

Tessa gripped Hudson’s bicep tighter. “So, someone remotely triggered the device that made the car crash so it looked like an accident and planted a fake video to frame Frank. Why?” Because of my inheritance. Did you find any indication that someone knew I was in Sam’s will?”

“None. Malcolm’s firm has top-notch security, but we dug deep. No signs of a security breach, and no suspicious activity in your accounts either.” The General reached into his overcoat and pulled out a cigar. “Tell me why you think Frank would be monitoring your activity?”

She lifted her hand to her cheek.

Hudson stepped in front of her and caught her wrist. “Look at me.”

She lifted her chin. The pain she couldn’t hide churned the red haze in his head into a frenzy. Breathing slow and steady, he contained the impending firestorm.

“Listen, Tessa. I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I need you to answer the General’s questions so we can find the fuckers who killed Pop and make sure they regret it.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Good girl.” He turned to the General. With a nudge of his hip against Tessa’s, he encouraged her to talk.

“My mother loved Frank to a fault the size of the Grand Canyon. No matter how many times he broke her heart, she forgave him. And no matter how many times he broke mine, she looked the other way.”

Folding her hands in front of her chin, she stared at the ruby. “I learned to hide anything of value I had because if Frank found it, he’d take it. And if my mother knew about it, she’d give it to him to finance his next get-rich-quick scheme.”

She laughed. The pain threaded through the sardonic humor landed low and hard in Hudson’s gut. Picking up a seashell from the bowl on the table, he ran his thumb along the rough edge and let memories of those early morning beach walks with Pop steady him before he said something about Frank he couldn’t take back.

Deadbeat or not, he was still Tessa’s father.

She wiped her hands on her pants and drew in a steadying breath. “The schemes started before I was born, but he’d convinced her the payoff would be a castle in the sand when he hit it big. I learned early on that his bedtime stories were bullshit, and not just because he’d never live near the water. My mother never learned though. She took every word he said as gospel and never questioned it.”

Hudson snapped the seashell in two.

Tessa took the halves and held one up. “Frank first.” She held up the other one. “Me second.” She dropped them to the stone with a shrug. “That’s just the way it was.”

A piece of the puzzle, not about Pop’s murder, but why Tessa loved Pop so much, slid into place as he turned to the water. Hudson knew with all his heart she’d never been second in that duplex in Belmarva. He’d seen with his own eyes that she wasn’t second in Pop’s letter.

Kicking the seashell pieces into the dunes with a curse, he vowed she’d never be second again.